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(forget I said that)

. . . is excellent. It's also a lot funnier than you might expect, especially at the beginning, although obviously there's a kick in the face waiting for you at the end.

It was interesting who they got to play John Cooper Clarke. I would have guessed it would be a difficult casting decision, but they found an interesting (if unorthodox) solution.

They'd had time to attach a dedication to Tony Wilson at the beginning. The contrast between 24 Hour Party People and this is interesting. He's a smaller character in this one, of course, and a lot of the time a rather quieter character.

The actors playing the band also played the music for the on-stage scenes - James Pearson (Sumner) was there, and apparently he learned to play guitar from scratch for the part. They sounded damn good, too - if the acting thing doesn't work out for them, they could probably hack it as a JD tribute act. He - and the film - got a round of applause at the end. I may possibly while leaving have overheard a comment from him in praise of Corbijn's general level of talent, which I'd agree with on this evidence.

It's based mainly on Deborah Curtis' book (very good - well worth reading) with extra contributions, in the case of some scenes surely from Annik Honoré, the only living person who was there. It shouldn't have been a surprise to be reminded how young they all were, but it was. Hardly more than children.